Firefox consuming massive amounts of memory - up to 2GB! Frustrated. Newer system.

Firefox is using 1GB - 2GB of memory on average. This is a frustrating issue as I am a graphic designer and frequently use programs like Adobe Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator, and every version of Firefox that I've used (up to 3.6.3) uses MUCH more memory then my graphic programs! As result my system always gets slow after 2 days of using Firefox.
Running a fairly new Quad-core desktop system with 8GB memory, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit and Firefox 3.6.3. The only extention I am using is the Google toolbar.
Since I surf the web a lot, I tend to leave Firefox opens for days before it consumes a healthy chunk of memory. The common websites that I visit are not flash-based and many of times are just simple forums. Nor do I have more than 5 tabs open at same time on average. I don't know why Firefox needs to use a full 2GB of memory when Adobe Photoshop caps out about 500MB with 10+ files open in it, and I leave Photoshop open for WEEKS sometimes.
After spending a little time googling this issue, I see that other people are having similar issues and the only real resolution everyone has is to constantly shut Firefox down and restart. Something I feel shouldn't need to be done and not real/permanent fix for the memory leak.
Looking to get a real permanent solution to this issue as it's causing me to go back to IE. I have actually been using IE8 much more lately and no matter how many websites I visit and how many days go by, the memory usage by IE stays below 200MB (not GB, MB!). So I feel *something* can be done. Help!

i have the same problem, please do something about it! I have 2gb RAM and after a few hours ff uses 80% of my RAM and additionally 1.5gb of virtual memory. This slows down ff, because of copying data from virtual memory to ram.
I know this is because of caching websites in RAM but it really slows down ff, here is my solution:
1. A user is able to specify maximum RAM to be used by ff
2. Website caches are sorted by last access datetime - now if firefox reaches the max RAM - it removes the oldest website from RAM.
Simple and effective. Damn it.

Similar Messages

Firefox 8 is using massive amounts of memory, currently 2 G with only a few tabs open.

I just upgraded to Firefox 8, but it is using such enormous amounts of memory that my computer has slowed to a crawl. According to Task Manager, memory usage is now down to 1.3G but still that's so much that it's hard to see what I'm typing. The previous versions of Firefox didn't use nearly so much. If this can't be fixed, I will have to use Google Chrome or IE even though I much prefer Firefox. Closing tabs in Firefox maxes out CPU usage, and this is a new computer with lots of memory. I think this is a bug. I don't want to have to go in and disable features that I have been using. Can you tell me when there will be a fix for this?

I'm running Firefox 8.0.1, no add-ons, no themes, no bells or whistles. Firefox takes up large amounts of my memory and brings my computer to a crawl. I'm well educated in A+ Network+ and Cisco CNA I am by far a very educated user and can not solve this problem myself.
I hate to say it, but Firefox is slipping in quality and I may have to switch to Opera if this problem can not be resolved. It's been an issue since v.5 and continues to be a pain.

Firefox exe continues to run after closing all windows, and consumes massive amounts of cpu

after closing all firefox windows and trying to reopen i get the "firefox is still running but unresponsive" message, and have to go into task manager, processes and end the firefox exe, which is consuming between 96 and 100 cpu.

Norton IPS is apparently a known issue being mentioned in the KB articles:
*[[firefox will not start]]
* [[firefox crashes when you open it]]
* I also found an earlier post on the Norton site http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Internet-Security-Norton/Norton-IPS-1-0-Addon-for-FireFox/m-p/25425#M8494 but I am not sure this is still considered a problem.
What exactly is this IPS extension. I am currently using XPs with Norton's NIS (version 18.6 - it is a paid for subscription). I do have Intrusion Prevention active in NIS but I see no specific extension or program IPS. Is this some optional additional software?
I did find an explanation but from 2009
* http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Protection-Blog/Intrusion-Prevention-System-IPS-Your-first-line-of-defense/ba-p/124400
I am NOT using the Norton Toolbar etc. is it these components that are causing the problem i.e safe search etc.
I am not having problems with firefox hanging or continuing, despite using NIS.
There is a bug on this https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=548945 but that does not seem to have got very far in confirming or resolving the issue. I imagine Norton have a very large userbase and it seems unlikely that the basic NIS is itself incompatible with Firefox.

Causes windows 7 desktop window manager (wdm.exe) to use large amounts of memory

Whenever I have Firefox4 open, it causes dwm.exe (Windows desktop manager) to use large amounts of RAM - It starts at about 100MB, quickly increasing to about 1GB over 20 seconds, then dropping back down to 100MB and so on. It does this continuously while Firefox4 is open, with the occasional "Your computer is running slow" message being shown by Windows.
Update: Only occurs when browser isn't on the primary display on a multi-monitor setup.

I had the exact same problem. DWM would use massive amount of memory when Firefox 4 was open on my secondary display, especially when scrolling with the mouse wheel. It would use so much that Windows 7 (8GB RAM) would turn off Aero. Going into Options>Advanced>General and unchecking "use hardware acceleration" fixed the issue. Of course now I can't take advantage of any hardware acceleration.

Firefox consumes too much RAM, caused by js

I'm having problems with Firefox consuming too much RAM memory. Several people are complaining about this but I did some further research before posting here, using about:memory, and I found out that js-non-window and js-main-runtime are causing this.
When I start up a blank Firefox session I immediately have an allocation of 260MB of RAM. About 75-80% of this is taken up by those two js (javascript?) processes.
After opening about 10 tabs with different webpages the RAM usage has gone up to about 750MB. During the time the tabs are open most of the extra MB's are consumed by the window-objects (40MB per page, still seems quite a lot to me for just a news site with one article...) but after closing them the memory usage didn't go down and it transferred to the two already mentioned js processes. This transfer to the js processes is not always the case, it seems to happen only if I open a lot of tabs, let's say 10+ perhaps.
I tried disabling Javascript using the plugin SettingSanity, but this makes browsing quite uncomfortable of course and worst of all it doesn't solve the problem. The mentioned processes keep using the same amount of RAM.
I have this exact same problem on all my computers and laptops so it can't be a coincidence. Is there nothing I can do about this? Is this under investigation? How can a browser with 10 web pages open need almost 800MB of RAM?
And please don't answer "install more RAM". The pc I have most problems with has 2GB of physical RAM and I really do think that opening 10 web pages should be possible on such a computer. Doing the same in Internet Explorer consumes less than half the amount of RAM memory.
P.S: I sent this query using IE because I could't get to this page in Firefox. The "Ask This" button didn't work...

Try in Firefox's safe mode disable all plugins, and open with only a new tab set by using ''about:blank'' . As suggested above also consider as a test creating and using a new Firefox profile.
When I start like that I have around 70MB explicit shown in ''about:memory'' and that includes ''js-non-window'' of around 30MB
I know in the past I have opened more than 10 tabs on a machine with less than 1GB ram installed and not noticed problems.

Is it wrong or why Firefox uses it as an extremely large amount of memory? I'm running Firefox 7.0.1 on Windows 7 and it is more or less constant over 1.5 GB of memory utilization, twice as much as they early version 6. Best regards Jonas Walther

Is it wrong or why Firefox uses it as an extremely large amount of memory?
I'm running Firefox 7.0.1 on Windows 7 and it is more or less constant over 1.5 GB of memory utilization, twice as much as they early version 6.
Best regards
Jonas Walther

Hi musicfan,<br />Sorry you are having problems with Firefox. Maybe you should have asked earlier and we could have fixed it.
Reading your comments I do not see that rolling back to an insecure Firefox 22 will actually help you much. You are probably best using IE, unless you have also damaged that.
*[[Export bookmarks to Internet Explorer]]
You should not use old versions they are insecure. Security fixes are publicised and exploitable.
* [[Install an older version of Firefox]]
* https://www.mozilla.org/security/known-vulnerabilities/firefox.html
Most others will not be having such problems. We are now able to say that with confidence because after developers missed a regression in Firefox 4 telemetry was introduced so that data was obtained. It may be an idea to turn on your telemetry, if you have not already done so, and decide to stick with Firefox.
*[[Send performance data to Mozilla to help improve Firefox]]
Trying safe mode takes seconds. Unfortunatly if you are not willing to do even rudimentary troubleshooting there is not anything we can do to help you.
*[[Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Safe Mode]]

ITunes 7.6 uses massive amounts of system memory

When playing music in iTunes 7.6 on cover flow view, I notice from watching the processes tap of Windows Task Manager, that iTunes uses about 70MB of RAM when initially opened but that with each unique album cover it displays (by clicking on different songs from the library), the memory usage increases in increments of anywhere between 4MB and 40 MB. I first noticed the problem when my synchronization program displayed an error message stating that my computer was out of virtual memory. When I looked at the processes tab of Windows Task Manager, iTunes was using over 1GB of system memory (I have 2GB). Any ideas? Thanks!

not only does it hord your memroy.... it loads down your processor as well.
someoneelse mentioned it was trying to convert video files (constantly and never stops trying), and removing the video files should help...it did help, a little... 7.6 still lags and is slowest program I have installed on my PC at the moment.

When will Firefox stop eating all my memory?

For the past few versions, Firefox has been a memory hog. I have done a fresh install of my entire OS (Windows 7) and Firefox, ran it with no plugins, and still have the problem. I've got my plugins installed now and it's not much worse than it was before. This is ridiculous. It regularly consumes up to 700+MB of memory and if I don't monitor it carefully, it will creep up to over 1.5GBs. Not even Photoshop is that obnoxious to me.
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== Ever since 3.x or so

Ok, I found the solution (for at least my boxes!) Yay!
The trouble is that Firefox changed the amount of HTTP connections it permits simultaneously from 30 (pre version 6) up to 256 for version 7. Each connection uses CPU and Memory!!!!!
I won't ponder why they did that, but the fix is easy:
Lower the max number of HTTP connections
In the Location bar, type about:config and press Enter.
The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click I'll be careful, I promise!, to continue to the about:config page.
In the Filter box at the top, type network.http.max-connections.
Double-click on the network.http.max-connections preference, the "Enter integer value" dialog box will open.
In the field, type 30 which was the default value in old versions of Firefox and click OK.
My version 7.0.1 firefox suddenly started working! Yay!

Amount of memory cunsumed by iView

Hello experts,
Could you please tell me the amount of memory consumed by an iView?
Of course the amount is affected by the contents, but here I am asking about the iView itself.
I need to estimate the memory consumption amount necessary to load a page in EP.
Thank you & best regards
Hajime Kawata

Have you tried resetting your iPod.
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

What is tuxedo9.1/bin/sql and how to restrict amount of memory it uses?

Hi,
We have AIX 5.3 server running Oracle 10.2 database and Tuxedo, a few days ago the database crashed as
there was no free memory (this was configmed by AIX log).
According to our monitoring (Open View) memory was consumed by two 'sql' processes
(where 'sql' is process name): within one hour each process went from 24,000 to 800,000 memory pages.
I searched the box and found executable named 'sq' in tuxedo9.1/bin:
ls -l tuxedo9.1/bin/sql-r-xr-xr-x 1 abcPadm abcP 73128 Oct 24 2008 tuxedo9.1/bin/sql
Would you be able to tell me what is this 'sql' executable and how to restrict amount
of memory it consumes (other than through ulimit)?
Thanks
Sev

Hi Sev,
As Ian says, the SQL support in Tuxedo where Tuxedo actually provided a relational database resource manager has long been deprecated and certainly hasn't been supported in over 10 years. The Tuxedo sql program in the Tuxedo bin directory is an interactive SQL utility. I seriously doubt that it is the same executable that caused your memory problem. If it is the same executable, there isn't really much Oracle is going to be able to do for you as that component hasn't been supported for years. You would really need to change the application to use a standard supported SQL utility and relational database.
Regards,
Todd Little
Oracle Tuxedo Chief Architect

Vista reporting of the amount of memory

Under vista my macbook shows 3048GB of memory while under lepeord it shows the full 4gb? Anybody else running vista that gets funny memory size reported? The machine has 4GB in it.

Stefan thanks for the update. I did some more investigation and found the fact is that Vista 32 supports 4GB but the memory for other devices is reserved in the contingous memory space. See Microsoft article below:
The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 929605
Last Review : March 17, 2007
Revision : 1.1
On This Page
SYMPTOMS
CAUSE
WORKAROUND
MORE INFORMATION
PAE-mode-induced driver compatibility issues
SYMPTOMS
If a computer has 4 gigabytes (GB) of random-access memory (RAM) installed, the system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect. For example, the System Information dialog box may report 3,120 megabytes (MB) of system memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed (4,096 MB).
Note You can access the System Information dialog box in the following ways:• Click Start, type System in the Search box, and then click System under Programs.
• Double-click System in Control Panel.
• Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
• Click Show more details in the Windows Vista Welcome Center window.
Back to the top
CAUSE
This behavior is the expected result of certain hardware and software factors.
Various devices in a typical computer require memory-mapped access. This is known as memory-mapped I/O (MMIO). For the MMIO space to be available to 32-bit operating systems, the MMIO space must reside within the first 4 GB of address space.
For example, if you have a video card that has 256 MB of onboard memory, that memory must be mapped within the first 4 GB of address space. If 4 GB of system memory is already installed, part of that address space must be reserved by the graphics memory mapping. Graphics memory mapping overwrites a part of the system memory. These conditions reduce the total amount of system memory that is available to the operating system.
The reduction in available system memory depends on the devices that are installed in the computer. However, to avoid potential driver compatibility issues, the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista limit the total available memory to 3.12 GB. See the "More information" section for information about potential driver compatibility issues.
If a computer has many installed devices, the available memory may be reduced to 3 GB or less. However, the maximum memory available in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista is typically 3.12 GB.
Back to the top
WORKAROUND
For Windows Vista to use all 4 GB of memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed, the computer must meet the following requirements: • The chipset must support at least 8 GB of address space. Chipsets that have this capability include the following:• Intel 975X
• Intel P965
• Intel 955X on Socket 775
• Chipsets that support AMD processors that use socket F, socket 940, socket 939, or socket AM2. These chipsets include any AMD socket and CPU combination in which the memory controller resides in the CPU.
• The CPU must support the x64 instruction set. The AMD64 CPU and the Intel EM64T CPU support this instruction set.
• The BIOS must support the memory remapping feature. The memory remapping feature allows for the segment of system memory that was previously overwritten by the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) configuration space to be remapped above the 4 GB address line. This feature must be enabled in the BIOS configuration utility on the computer. View your computer product documentation for instructions that explain how to enable this feature. Many consumer-oriented computers may not support the memory remapping feature. No standard terminology is used in documentation or in BIOS configuration utilities for this feature. Therefore, you may have to read the descriptions of the various BIOS configuration settings that are available to determine whether any of the settings enable the memory remapping feature.
• An x64 (64-bit) version of Windows Vista must be used.
Contact the computer vendor to determine whether your computer meets these requirements.
Note When the physical RAM that is installed on a computer equals the address space that is supported by the chipset, the total system memory that is available to the operating system is always less than the physical RAM that is installed. For example, consider a computer that has an Intel 975X chipset that supports 8 GB of address space. If you install 8 GB of RAM, the system memory that is available to the operating system will be reduced by the PCI configuration requirements. In this scenario, PCI configuration requirements reduce the memory that is available to the operating system by an amount that is between approximately 200 MB and approximately 1 GB. The reduction depends on the configuration.
Back to the top
MORE INFORMATION
PAE-mode-induced driver compatibility issues
Driver compatibility issues that are related to Data Execution Prevention (DEP) are typically physical address extension (PAE) mode-induced compatibility issues.
Note PAE is required only on computers that have processors that support hardware-enforced DEP.
DEP may cause compatibility issues with any driver that performs code generation or that uses other techniques to generate executable code in real time. Many drivers that experienced these issues have been fixed. Because DEP is always on for drivers that are on 64-bit versions of Windows, these drivers typically experienced compatibility issues. However, there is no guarantee that all drivers have been updated to fix PAE-mode-induced compatibility issues. However, there are few drivers that use these techniques. DEP alone does not typically cause driver compatibility issues.
The primary driver compatibility issues that you may experience occur when you run PAE mode on 32-bit computers. PAE mode enables processors to use more than 4 GB of memory. The primary difference between PAE memory paging schemes and non-PAE memory paging schemes is the additional level of paging that is required in PAE mode. PAE mode requires three levels of paging instead of two levels of paging.
Some drivers might not load if PAE mode is enabled because the device might be unable to perform 64-bit addressing. Or, the drivers might be written with the assumption that PAE mode requires more than 4 GB of memory. Such drivers are written with the expectation that the drivers will always receive 64-bit addresses in PAE mode and that the driver or the device cannot interpret the address.
Other drivers might load in PAE mode but cause system instability by directly modifying system page table entries (PTE). These drivers expect 32-bit page table entries but receive 64-bit PTEs in PAE mode instead.
The most common PAE compatibility issue for drivers involves direct memory access (DMA) transfers and map register allocation. Many devices that support DMA, typically 32-bit adapters, cannot perform 64-bit physical addressing. When these devices run in 32-bit mode, the devices can address all physical address space. In PAE mode, data can be present at a physical address that is larger than 4 GB. To enable devices that have these constraints to function in this scenario, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and later versions of Windows provide double-buffering for the DMA transaction. Windows 2000 Server and later versions of Windows do this by providing a 32-bit address that is indicated by a map register. The device can perform the DMA transaction to the 32-bit address. The kernel copies the memory to the 64-bit address that is provided to the driver. When the computer runs with PAE mode disabled, drivers for 32-bit devices do not require that system memory be allocated to their map registers. This means that double-buffering is not required because all devices and all drivers are contained within the 32-bit address space. Tests of drivers for 32-bit devices on 64-bit processor–based computers have demonstrated that DMA-capable drivers that are client tested typically expect unlimited map registers.
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these

What is the most time efficient way to scan massive amounts of text data with LabVIEW?

I am currently running an application that scans data in a text files for outliers. After each file is scanned, statistics data stored in a database (if there are outliers); so at least the memory in the computer will not be eaten up. In order to scan lines of data without killing the computer, I put a 1 millisecond delay in the scanning loop. I have massive amounts of data in thousands of files to scan. Taking one milisecond per line of data is taking too much time. At this rate, it will take over a WEEK to scan all the data! Is there anything I can do to minimize the time per line scan? If anybody knows, I need a solution. If anybody thinks or knows there is NO solution, I need to hear that feedback too!

I would use queue to pass the data to the processing task. You could put some intelligence in your file reading task to hold off reading a new file until the processing task has completely processing the data. However I suspect you should be able to process things fairly quickly. The suggestion to include a Wait 0 is a good one. You should always avoid writing repetitive tasks with no ability for the NI scheduler to perform a context switch. Though the various queue VIs allow the system to context switch if required.
Mark Yedinak
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

Amount of memory not stable

i know that using certain type of OS with a CPU can result in lowered amount of memory
i updated the mainboard using "liveupdate"
Mainboard : MSI 990 FX GD-80
OS : windows 7 ultimate 64 bit
CPU : FX 4170
Memory : 4x4 GB 2133 MGHZ
PSU : XION 1000(W)P14F
all BIOS settings remain default and it result in such behavior
the memory randomly go from 4 GB to 16GB when i booted until i restart it
i've never overvolted my memory sticks
DRAM frequency is auto
my DRAM voltage is auto
and timing is auto
my programs doesnt crash
i think it might be timings.. cuz i checked voltage from various programs and it seem okay
and when i undervolt it(just a little bit).. programs crashes

i found the spec on the webpage of the memory manifacturer -> http://www.mushkin.com/Memory/Blackline/997015.aspx
Q: if it did that before live update...
A : lol i dont know seriously.. the first thing i did is update
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/meht.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/spdj.jpg/
ok ill bump it from 1.52 to 1.54
Q: if i bought that in a kit of 4
A : i bought 2 kit of 2.. infact..lol but its the same models
** edit
infact the problem is not that if its seen or not.. its like..
i recently boot up and it seem i can only access 1 dimm of memory
because apparently 12 GB is allocated for hardware and the BIOS or something

The amount of memory used for data is a lot larger than the saved file size why is this and can I get the memory usage down without splitting up the file?

I end up having to take a lot of high sample rate data for relativily long periods of time. When I save the data it is usually over 100 MB. When I load the data for post-processing though the amount of memory used is excessively higher than the file size. This causes my computer to crash because 1.5 GB is not enough. Is there a way to stop this from happening withoput splitting up the file into smaller files.

LabVIEW can efficiently handle large files, far beyond 100Mb, provided that care is taken in the coding of the loading/processing routines. Here are several suggestions:
1) Check out the resources National Instruments has put together (NI Developer Zone > Development Library > Measurement and Automation Software > LabVIEW > Development System > Optimizing Applications > Managing Memory), specifically the article entitled "Managing Large Data Sets in LabVIEW".
2) Load and process the data in chunks if possible.
3) Avoid sending the data to front panel indicators, using local/global variables for data storage, or changing data types unless absolutely necessary.
4) If using LabVIEW 7.1, use the "show buffer" tool to determine when LabVIEW is creating extra
copies of data in memory.

HT3919 In the past was able to adjust the memory for each individual application, my Illustrator CS5 appears is doesn't have enough memory to complete a particular project. How do I boost the amount of memory that Illustrator uses so I can complete my pro

In the past I have always been able to adjust the memory of each individual application,
my Adobe Illustrator CS5 appears that is doesn't have enough memory to complete a particular project.
How do I boost the amount of memory that Illustrator uses so I can complete my project?

With OS X, it automatically allocates RAM and it can't be allocated manually.
What model Mac do you have and what OS X version is it running. Your profile shows a PowerMac and OS 10.6.8. A PowerMac can't run OS 10.6.8. It's max OS is 10.5.x
How much RAM is installed in your Mac? You need to max out the RAM and close other open apps if you are having problems with Illustrator.
 Cheers, Tom

Firefox consuming massive amounts of memory - up to 2GB! Frustrated. Newer system.

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